Iliad Design, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman

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Here we have another recent offering from Iliad Design of Canada. I have found that the Iliad Design decals are well printed and in register, easy to apply and react quite well to Micro Sol and Micro Set decals setting solutions.

The five offerings in this set from Iliad are all for the Bf 109F:

1. Bf 109F-2 of Oblt. Frank Liesendahl, Staffelkapitän, 10. (Jabo) /JG2. Beaumont Franc, 1942.  The aircraft is in the standard day-fighter scheme of 74/75/76, with a fuselage mottle of 74/75, which was heavily applied around the aircraft number.

In the past decal makers have mistakenly provided the aircraft number and chevron and bar in yellow.  But after much research, it has been determined that they were blue.  The Iliad decals present these markings quite well with the blue marking finely outlined in black.

Iliad also provides the fox nose art and ship kill markings for the rudder for both sides of the aircraft.  But there are some unknowns here.  First, it is not conclusive that Liesendal’s aircraft had the fox on the nose and, if it did, whether it was on the left side only or both sides.  It is also not clear whether the ship in the fox’s mouth was blue or a brownish color.  The ship markings on the rudder were definitely on the aircraft’s rudder, and they are well presented by Iliad.  The ship markings represented the unit’s efforts, rather than the pilot’s efforts.  Again, it is not known if they were only on the left side of the rudder or both sides.

Regardless of the conclusions you reach, Iliad provides sufficient marking to do any of the possibilities.

For modeling this aircraft, Hasegawa, a number of years ago, issued kit JT173 for a Bf109F-4/R1 that included a resin bomb and ETC rack.  I believe it is now out of production.

2. Bf109F-2 of 5. / JG 52.  This is a most unusual color scheme where the upper surface has been repainted in what appears to be a maroon (brown?) color and possibly RLM 74 with squiggle lines of what appears to be RLM 76.

3. Bf 109F-4 of 3. / JG 54, Eastern Front.  The painting guide states that his aircraft was in 74/75/76, although the profile does not show a “standard” 74/75/76 pattern.  I have not found a reference for this aircraft, and it is quite possible that this had a heavy mottle, which has been interpreted as shown.

On the other hand, numerous aircraft wearing nearly identical markings were repainted in the Eastern Front greens that were adopted by JG 54.  So it is unclear as to which colors are correct.

4. Bf 109F-4 of 3. / JG 51.  I believe that this is the aircraft of Oblt. Heinrich Krafft, Staffelkapitän, Eastern Front, February 1942.  The aircraft has a base color of 74/75/76 with a temporary white unevenly applied across the upper surface.

The Classic Colours’ Jagdwaffe, Vol. 3, Section 4, page 311, shows this aircraft as having a yellow under-cowl.  It also shows that the original gray of the camouflage can be seen behind the swastika and the kill markings.  The spinner also appears to have received a light coat of temporary white.

5. Bf109F-4/Trop, II / JG 27. I believe this is the aircraft of Lt. Gerhard Mix.  If it is, Mix was shot down in this aircraft and taken prisoner near El Alamein on August 14, 1942.  The aircraft is in the desert scheme of 78/79. Note that the back plate to the spinner is in a darker color, most likely 70.

While the profile on the painting guide shows a hard demarcation line between the upper color 79 and the lower color 78, photographs of this aircraft, in Jagdwaffe Vol. 4, Section 2, page 109, show the demarcation as being quite soft, with the upper surface color coming further down the side from about the cockpit to the spinner.

The Jagdwaffe monograph also shows this aircraft in profile as having a yellow under-cowl area, although this is not entirely evident in the photographs.

The photographs also show the “Berlin Bear” badge as being on both sides of the nose, and Iliad does provide two badges.  The bear on the left side faces forward, while the bear on the right side faces aft.  Iliad correctly presents the emblem as non-handed.

Notwithstanding my comments, this is a most interesting set of decals from Iliad Design and there is much to recommend it. There appears to be enough national marking for two aircraft.  I’m sure most modelers will have no problems doing two, if not more, 109Fs from this set. 

Given the absence stencil markings, Iliad clearly decided to give more options with stencil marking coming from the appropriate kit’s decals.

Recommended.

Thanks to Bob Migliardi of Iliad Decals for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2008 by Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman
This Page Created on 21 January, 2008
Last updated 21 January, 2008

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